A.G. Rizzoli: Architect of Magnificent Visions

September 14, 2007 – January 5, 2008Curated by Jo Farb Hernandez

An interesting epithet emerges from one of Achilles G. Rizzoli’s masterful drawings: “Magnitude, Magnificence, and Manifestation.” All three are appropriate words to describe the architectural cityscapes the artist fashioned in his created world known as Y.T.T.E. (Yield To Total Elation). Born in Marin County, California in 1896, Rizzoli would lead his life in almost complete isolation with his mother after his father disappeared in 1915. Working as a draftsman with a local architect in San Francisco, Rizzoli began his artistic endeavor in 1935 with an ink drawing of a “Kathredal” (cathedral) honoring his mother. Rizzoli’s work became “transfigurations” of people and ideas that he held dear, and Y.T.T.E. became an ever engrossing landscape in which the artist could explore his isolation. Intuit’s exhibition is curated by Jo Farb Hernandez, a leading scholar on Rizzoli’s work. The exhibit featured iconic works in Rizzoli’s oeuvre that have not been on display together since 1998.

Recent and Anniversary Gifts to the Permanent Collection

July 6, 2007 - January 5, 2008

Since its inauguration in 2002, Intuit’s permanent collection has grown considerably due to the ongoing generosity of our supporters. The collection demonstrated the complexity and dynamism of the artists that exemplify the fields of outsider, self-taught, and art brut. Artists represented in this exhibition included Martín Ramírez, Ted Ludwiczak, Eugene Andolsek, Alexander Maldonado, Old White Woman, Louis Monza, Eddie Arning, Howard Finster, and Betty Zakoian. The exhibition also featured a group of works dedicated to those artists who lived as immigrants in America or whose work was informed by their immigrant experience.

Lonnie Holley: Artist in Residence

May 11 - September 1, 2007

Intuit hosted its first artist in residence, Lonnie Holley, over a two-week period as he created a site-specific sculpture/environment/assemblage in Intuit's Main Gallery using found and recycled materials, architectural salvage, and the detritus of human activity, evolving over the course of the residency. Intuit invited students of all ages, artists, and the general public to interact with Holley while he created the sculpture. Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, Lonnie Holley became an artist in order to enact change in this world. Holley has stated, “Through my works I will try to leave enough information that children can still come onto this earth 50,000 years from now and learn how to take care of it.” The artist’s unique vision transformed Intuit’s gallery into a breathtaking experience.

Don't Fence Me In: The Art of Daniel Watson

January 19 - June 23, 2007Curated by Mary Donaldson

Don’t Fence Me In was the first solo exhibition for the artist and featured sculpture and drawings that were created specifically for the show. Watson is well-known for radiant and color-saturated portraits of American cultural icons, friends, and fellow inmates. Using an intricate cross-hatching technique with vibrant colors, Watson creates intense and arresting depictions of individuals that, he says, allow “the person, the real spirit, [to] come out in a meeting of equality with the viewer.” Also on view were the incredible body of sculptures Watson has created out of discarded citrus peels. Made from the skins of grapefruits, oranges, tangelos and tangerines that he retrieved from the garbage at the prison facility, the sculptures resemble imagery associated with Native American basket weaving.

Curator Mary Donaldson writes: “The last thing Daniel Watson would want you to know about him is the first thing that most people find out – that he is incarcerated in the California penal system. What he has done since he got there is the subject of this exhibition.”

Ken Grimes: ELUSIVE MESSAGES

January 19 - April 27, 2007Curated by Jan Petry

Ken Grimes’ art is characterized by his use of black and white acrylic on canvas and board. The stark quality of the white text or image on black background runs counter to the complex reality that his paintings seek to convey. That is, the simple images help explore the diverse registers of phenomenon in this universe that form a tantalizing web of connections and stratagems.

The “coincidence board” is Grimes’ own apt phrase for the uncanny coincidences that pervade our lives. In 1971 Grimes attempted to win the state lottery in Cheshire, Connecticut by using telepathy on the crowd gathered around the drawing site. Simultaneously, another Ken Grimes in Cheshire, England won a large sum of money in that country’s rendition of a lottery: the soccer pool. Since Grimes’ fateful encounter in 1971, his “coincidence board” has considerably expanded. His pictorial investigations probe paranormal incidents from outer space. Alien visitations, crop circles, flying saucers, and space travel are all themes Grimes seeks to understand through collecting, examining, and evaluating their meaning in his paintings.

“Ken Grimes’ paintings reveal a passion closer to religious inspiration than political dogma or personal rant,” Charles Russell writes in the exhibition essay, “for what drives his work is a search for signs of a cosmic connection, a belief in the imminence of an unsettling truth, and a confidence that art can be an agent of revelation.”